Suspicious, hell

David Goodman has an article in The New York Times about another averted massacre:

An Army private, who had been absent without leave since earlier this month, was arrested this week near Fort Hood with a gun and suspicious materials in what local law enforcement officials described as a “terror plot” to kill other soldiers.
During questioning after his arrest, the soldier, Private First Class Naser Jason Abdo, admitted that he specifically planned to attack Fort Hood, according to a report by The Associated Press An FBI spokesman said that he could not provide further details because it was a continuting investigation.
Police in Killeen, Texas arrested Private Abdo in a motel room near the southern edge of the base, one day after a clerk at a local gun store alerted the police about a suspicious purchase, the police said.
According to a law enforcement official, among the items found in Private Abdo’s room at the time of his arrest were a military uniform with Fort Hood patches, a pistol, shotgun shells, and an article on “how to make a bomb in your kitchen” from the English-language version of the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire. He also had more than one wall clock, a cellphone, duct tape, and a shopping list for what appeared to be explosive components, the official said.
The police said that they had interviewed Private Abdo in the city jail and that his statement “leads us to believe that military personnel were targeted,” said Dennis M. Baldwin, the Killeen chief of police. He said Private Abdo did not appear to be part of any larger plot. “As far as we know, he was acting alone,” Chief Baldwin said.
What connection Private Abdo had to the base was unclear. He had been absent without leave from his own base, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, since early this month.
The announcement of his arrest renewed a sense of vulnerability at Fort Hood, where, on 5 November 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist, went on a shooting rampage that killed thirteen people and wounded 32 at a medical facility on the base. Base officials quickly issued a statement to reassure soldiers. “At this time, there has been no incident at Fort Hood,” officials said. “We continue our diligence in keeping our force protection at appropriate levels.”
At an afternoon news conference, the Killeen police chief underscored what he felt was the seriousness of the situation: “We probably would be here giving you a different briefing had he not been stopped.” Private Abdo, who joined the Army in April of 2009, gained national attention last summer when he refused to deploy with his unit to Afghanistan, insisting that his Muslim faith prevented him from serving. He had fought his deployment since 2010, and gave multiple interviews. “I was under the impression that I could serve both the U.S. Army and my God simultaneously,” he said in a television interview with CNN last summer. “As the time had come near to deployment, I started really asking myself and taking the question more seriously whether God would accept what I was doing and whether I was really meant to go to war as opposed to the peace that Islam preaches.”
Army officials said that Private Abdo was granted conscientious objector status in May, but his discharge was put on hold after the Army said it had discovered at least 34 images of child pornography on his computer. James Branum, a lawyer who represented Private Abdo during his conscientious objector case but who is not representing him in this matter, said that Private Abdo had been “pretty upset” about the child pornography charges. “He told me that in good conscience he could not plead guilty to anything,” he said. In June, a military grand jury referred his case to a general court-martial. Private Abdo disappeared shortly after.

Rico says lessee, a Muslim conscientious objector who's into child porn and killing soldiers. Nah, he's just confused...